Summary

  • There's no way to revisit missed content in a playthrough after finishing Stellar Blade.
  • A New Game Plus mode makes it possible to replay the story with some progression elements.
  • Multiple endings can only be access by playing the game through more than once.

Playing through to the credits in challenging attacks to parry and overcome. It can be tempting to rush through to keep the focus on the action, but there's also an appeal in ferreting out secrets in its harsh world.

Although Stellar Blade's main story experience is fairly linear, the game has a good helping of side content, and it's possible to finish up the plot while leaving a number of activities and quests undone. Knowing whether these can be revisited through systems like Stellar Blade's fast travel can help guide the best approach to a playthrough, as completionists will want to take care of everything in advance if there's no way to do so afterward.

EVE doing a backflip in Stellar Blade while looking into the camera, superimposed over a vibrant image
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You Can't Keep Playing Stellar Blade After Beating It

Only One Save File

Stellar Blade main heroine close up looks up and left

The ending to Stellar Blade is very much the ending, as there's no way to go back and complete missed side content after reaching the conclusion. Stellar Blade follows the model found in similar action genre games like Sekiro by offering only one save file that's automatically overwritten with progress, and in this case, the game's main point of no return can't be revisited after the credits roll. With no chapter select available, only the last area will be accessible, so there isn't all that much to do besides beat the final challenges again.

Stellar Blade Does Have A New Game Plus Mode

A Last-Minute Addition

A close-up image of Eve, the protaogonist of Stellar Blade, with bangs and a ponytail.

Although Stellar Blade lacks a standard post-game, it's still possible to have some new experiences after finishing. The pre-launch addition of a New Game Plus mode has added a way to replay the story while maintaining some elements of progression, a surprise update that's certainly welcome. It's not essential — despite more than a ing resemblance in other regards, Stellar Blade doesn't emulate Nier: Automata in telling a shifting story across multiple playthroughs — but it's a nice feature to have.

Two images of the protagonist from Stellar Blade.
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On a more basic level, repeat playthroughs are necessary to see the multiple endings that Stellar Blade has. There aren't fundamental changes across them beyond the player's own actions as Eve, but factors that influence the ending need to be resolved before the point of no return. Seeing all three endings (without simply looking them up) could consequently take a major time investment.

Stellar Blade's lack of a standard post-game will no doubt be disappointing for some, while the inclusion of New Game Plus will be exciting enough to ignore that for others. Anyone uninterested in New Game Plus would be best advised to take care of everything that interests them before progressing the story past the point of no return, as there really is no revisiting locked content. Beating Stellar Blade comes with a lot of finality, even if New Game Plus offers one way to re-open the door that it closes.

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Your Rating

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Stellar Blade
Action RPG
9/10
Released
April 26, 2024
ESRB
M for Mature
Developer(s)
Shift Up
Publisher(s)
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Engine
Unreal Engine 4

Platform(s)
PS5